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Atlantic City casino workers’ health feels slighted as police is cracking down on smokers who light up outside on the boardwalk, while smoking indoors is still legal. Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) called out South Jersey officials for leaving workers hanging, once again.
Atlantic City Police Captain, Kevin Fair, announced last week that the department is prepared to enforce its non-smoking rule on the boardwalk after “listening to and hearing the concerns of the residents and the visitors.” That, however, still leaves casino workers having to deal with smoke inside.
The New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CDRA) is granting Atlantic City police $3 million to help deal with boardwalk smokers, which is not sitting well with Pete Naccarelli, co-founder of CEASE and longtime Atlantic City casino worker. He said in a statement emailed to PlayNJ:
“If you light up a cigarette on the boardwalk, you’ll be told by an officer, ‘Sorry, you can’t smoke out here. You have to go inside and blow it in that dealer’s face instead.’
“The seagulls have more rights and health protections than us.”
CEASE calls on mayor, lawmakers to pass non-smoking bill
Atlantic City Mayor, Marty Small Jr., is on-board with the crackdown of smoking outdoors. According to NBC10 Philadelphia, Small Jr. said:
“We mean business. We’ll crack down on it and we’ll get it right.”
CEASE called out Assemblyman William Moen last week for not including a casino smoke ban bill to the committee agenda. Naccarelli, once again, feels that the health of casino workers has been forgotten. He continued to PlayNJ in a statement:
“It’s time for the city and the state to recognize the common sense here: if visitors don’t want smoking outside in Atlantic City, they definitely don’t want it inside.
“If Mayor Marty Small really wants to show his constituents that he cares, and if the CRDA really wants to revitalize the tourism industry here, they will speak up for workers and tell the state legislature to pass an indoor smokefree casinos bill now.”
Moen had originally introduced the bill to ban smoking in January 2024, but it hasn’t moved since. There hasn’t been an explanation either, which isn’t making CEASE feel any better.
New Jersey Superior Court ruled against casino workers, CEASE has been putting public pressure on lawmakers push the bill forward. CEASE has released digital campaigns of the harms of inhaling second-hand smoke in important districts across the state.
CEASE’s prayers have not been answered, yet. But the organization is still fighting to eliminate indoor smoking, which protects the health and well-being of employees.
